My Graduate

The big day has finally arrived:

Todd proudly walked the line at the University of Hawaii's commencement ceremony. Proof that he has completed all of the necessary work required to get his Doctoral Degree. We have just a few days left together before Todd starts his first day on the job. He's so very excited (as he should be) as he received a phone call this morning letting him know that he will be the Project Manager on a new job they've got! Woo-hoo!

A HUGE Mahalo goes out to all of our family that joined us on this vacation


And to our ward ohana for coming out and celebrating with us on the day of his graduation. We couldn't have done it without any of you.

Blooming Blossoms

Shortly after we return from Hawaii, I an hostessing a "Blooming Blossoms" party for my niece. Please accept this invitation and join us if you are interested in making an investment in her little company. The flowers start at $3 (I think) and go up from there.

My amazing niece is just 10 years old and has already been working the boutique circuit. Her flower clips are wonderful for the smallest head...or the biggest (I wear them quite often). I had posted a few pics a while ago of a few of the ones she has made for my girls. I'll post more a little closer to the date to entice you all! There will also be headbands for the wee-ones.

Hawaii, Here We Come

Saturday morning Todd and I will be dividing our children amongst a friend (Nik, who will be taking Connor) an Auntie (Ruth who will take the Abs) and a ward member (whose children hoard Carly each and every Sunday). I decided to post a recent picture of each of the kids in case I start to forget what they look like:
For every 20 pictures I take, 15 are of Abi, 3 are of Connor and 2 are of Carly...out of all only 6 turn out and none of them are of Carly...looks like someone needs to take some photography lessons...birthday gift idea...TODD!

I must admit, I am not worried in the least about any of the children. Each of them are going to be staying with very capable women who have each raised or are bringing up VERY good children. I am hoping my kids pick up on some seriously good habits from each of them (maybe I need to spend a day watching the mommies and taking notes on their parenting styles).

Just this morning, Nik came over and joked about having Connor potty trained by the time I get home. This wouldn't surprise me. She is the friend who came out to Hawaii about the time I was thinking about weaning Connor. I couldn't have done it without her. Connor refused to take a bottle from anyone but her. She's awesome.

Did I mention that she agreed to take him all the whilst she will be going to school and installing a nail salon in her home? Not to mention the drama that has been going on in her life. Read about this super woman here.

Anyway, back to Hawaii. The first night we are there, we will be at Fort DeRussy park, right in Waikiki soaking up the sun (or sunset by the time we get settled). Did I mention who all will be joining us (at one time or another) on this trip? Here is the list:
Ken & Tonya (Todd's mom & dad)
Diane & Bud (my mom and dad)
Chad & Kimi
Spencer & Andrea
Adam, Angie & baby Porter
Tammy
Isaac
Kelli
Suzy (a.k.a. Karen)

SOOOOOO much fun! Not to mention the friends who we will get to mix with while on Oahu.

Sunday is the day we have been waiting for ten long years for (Todd and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary just two days after we get home...great timing!)

B. TODD RICHES RECEIVES HIS ARCHITECTURAL DOCTORATE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII!!!

The following day we will get to spend a few hours with our amazing Hawaiian friend, Norman:


Then it's off to Waiola Shave Ice, Ken's for a plate lunch of Kalua Pig and finally WAIMANALO!!!


That evening the School of Architecture is having another private commencement ceremony where they will honor those who have graduated as well as a classmate who was supposed to be at the ceremony this year, but passed away unexpectedly.

Tuesday morning we all fly to Kauai where we will spend the remaining seven days. I will fill you in with all the details and hopefully have lots of great pictures to help you visualize the whole trip. Todd and I have been there twice before and there are still so many things we have yet to do on that island...this will be so much fun!!!

This picture was taken the second time we went...that is baby Connor

I can't wait to see so many of you, my Hawaiian friends!!!

The Boob Fairy

Recently, I made a solo trip to the mall to make a very important (and much needed) purchase. You see, with each child I have had, a particular part of my body has diminished. No, I am not talking about my hips or thighs, those have quickly grown. I am talking about the upper portion of my body. The current unmentionable was sadly hanging away from my chest and a gap was left, which Abi quickly learned was perfect for holding onto when I held her. Not an attractive look.

So on this expedition, I made sure that I went in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to avoid eye contact with anyone that I may or may not know. The salesperson made me feel insecure with myself the moment she smiled and said "hello, can I help you." She, obviously, had never had children before and proudly displayed her gifts by wearing a deeply plunging neckline on her shirt. LAME!!!!

I explained my situation to said sales associate and she recommended the "perfect bra". Then came the embarrassing part..."what size?" she asked. I gave her my minimalist size and she went to get it. 10 minutes passed and she returned with my unmentionable explaining that it took so long because they didn't have one on the floor and she had to look elsewhere. Gee...feeling even better about myself. Then she asked "would you like to try it on?" Uh........NO! I knew that I could try it on in the privacy of my own home and return it if it wasn't satisfactory.

As I payed for my newest investment a song came into mind that my sister-in-law Tammy introduced me to a few years ago. I thought I would share it with you all in the hopes that you can get as much of a laugh out of it as I did. I think we women can all relate to it somehow (the hip fairy came two times really hits home to me).

Just One More...

...And then you won't hear from me again for another week or so:


I wouldn't trade my kids for anything in the world. Notice what's in Connor's hands? He is still obsessing about airplanes.

What About Carly

I feel like I post way too much about Connor and Abi. So this one is to the biggest baby I have ever had.

She celebrated her 6 month birthday today! She is a hefty 21.8 pounds and 26 inches long. Her favorite pastimes are sitting up and hanging out in the Johnny Jump Up.

Her favorite foods are Rice Cereal and Green Beans. Her favorite toy is anything that she can reach and put in her mouth. Her favorite time of day is when someone gets her out of her crib. She is best at dirtying diapers and loving her mommy.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice?

Yeah RIGHT!!!!!

Yesterday was FREEZING here. It was snowing. I had left Connor and Abi upstairs while I put Carly down for a nap. When I came back upstairs I found Abi outside. Here she is, with no shoes on. It was forty degrees (hey Miranda...can you believe that the outfit is a bit too big for her?):

I drug her back inside and changed her into a clean pair of pants and put shoes on socks on her feet. Then Carly began to fuss so I ran downstairs to help calm her. When I returned back, Abi was plastered to the back window with the biggest grin on her face. I apologize for how blurry it is, but she is a moving target. It's as thought putting the shoes on her and taking off her jacket gave her the magical powers necessary to suffer through the freezing cold and LAY DOWN flat in the dirty puddle.



This time, I turned the bolt on the door and forbade any children from leaving the house and but Abi in the tub. She loves the tub and I had to bribe her out of it by letting her wear her silky pajamas (thanks Ang for those, she LOVES them, even in the dead of spring or winter or whatever we are experiencing). I took the wet headed opportunity to put her hair in sponger curlers. We let them set while eating dinner. We were having spaghetti...I wouldn't let her have any sauce. I had dealt with enough messes for one day.


I was way too excited at the thought of Abi having curly hair that I took out the rollers too soon and it didn't get as curly as I had hoped. We'll try again tomorrow.

Wheeler Farm

Monday was way too beautiful to not get out and enjoy the world. I won't write details about it. The pictures tell a good enough story. Wheeler Farm...Tractors...New baby animals...cute kids:

Believe It or Not

This is only the second time I have been able to capture all three of my children sitting together at one time with the camera. It may not be great, but here they are, the Riches kids:

Now, getting them to all look at the camera at the same time is going to be a very different challenge.

On a Different Note

I would feel so very selfish if I didn't share with each of you the joy that I was able to feel when I spent two nights and three days in Park City with my sister at the Digital Scrapbooking Memories Retreat. So just endulge me for a moment and read along as though you are truly interested in me reliving that memorable weekend.

Thursday evening my sister Suzy (who most know as Karen) picked my up in her sporty little car that Connor so loving calls "Lightening McQueen" because it is red and looks fast. Just the two of us. Ahhhhhhhh. We stopped at a gas station and loaded up on our favorite junk food snacks: Funyuns, Cherry Heads, Reese's Pieces and our indivdual caffeinated beverage of choice.

The whole ride up we visited and she filled me in on all the gushy details of her life and I filled her in on how many diapers I had changed in that day, how many meltdowns I averted and how many times I thanked Todd for taking over the motherly duties for this much needed weekend.

Todd has been so kind and supportive in letting me go to this little retreat always reminding me that I deserved it and that he knew how much fun I would have.

The first night was super basic, but it was great. The time there allowed me to discover that the external hard drive that I had brought up with me was not compatible with Todd's laptop that he had loaned me (that in itself was a miracle...Todd letting me touch his coveted MacBook). I had spent many hours organizing and selecting pictures for the various projects we had planned for the weekend. Oh well, it didn't turn out to be a complete let-down. This is one of the layouts we completed that night:


That night I thought I would try out a page from Connor's sleeping book and lay on the big bed sprawled out with a foot in each corner and an arm in each upper corner. Boy, does that kid know how to sleep comfortably! Too bad I couldn't sleep. Force of habit had me waking up every few hours. I should have taken Angie's recommendation and taken some Ambien each night before bed to really get me rested up. This is what I look like in the morning. The stuff on my chin, the final stages of shingles (yeah, I get those sometimes and they are always on my face).

Suzy and I had ordered room service for breakfast. Can I just say YUCK!!!! It sure looks pretty but it had almost no flavor. I suppose it is because I ordered the low-fat, low-cal french toast. Why is it that everything low-fat/low-cal has law-flav? I loved the Vanilla Coke though. Nothing like a Coke for breakfast. Just the zip I needed to keep me going.

The classes that morning were great and I learned some great new shortcuts. However, the highlight of Friday had to be the shopping trip to the outlets.

What I loved the most:
-Not having to push a stroller
-Being able to slowly and methodically peruse through the clothes racks
-Not stopping at every cool thing for a moment of play
-Trying on every article I thought I liked and looking at myself in the mirror to make sure it was going to be a good purchase
-Not having to stop and change a diaper every half hour
-Visiting with my sister and having fun adult conversations
-Not dealing with a crying child (or three)
-Making it through every single store and not being rushed!
-My fabulous and affordable purchases...nothing like a good sale!

What I missed the most:
-That stroller sure does make toting bags around easier...my arms were tired by the end of the trip
-The kids...I got a whiff of Lavender in the Body Shop and almost started crying. Carly always smells like lavender.
-My mom and the other Spencer/Goodliffe girls

After the shopping expedition it was back to the retreat. More quick classes and then a late bedtime. But there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to take a very long hot bath. I soaked and read up on the latest in training for 5k's (any tips?). It was marvelous. Then I hit the sack and that night I was out like a rock.

Saturday was busy and fast paced. I wish we could have gone home with more completed projects. I have a hard time completing projects of a personal nature when I am at home. I have too many beautiful little distractions. However, since I have returned home I have used some of the fantastic tips taught at the retreat and here is a small sampling of what I have come up with (they are all cards of some sort meant to be printed on an 8.5x11 piece of cardstock):

This one has two cards on one paper, cut it out and then fold in half

This one is to be folded into fourths

Just fold this bad-boy in half and there you go!

I was so very anxious though to get home and hug my sweet Toddy for allowing me a brief moment of freedom and squish my fat little babies. I missed them all. They were all doing great and Todd had done a phenomenal job with them while I was gone.

Ruth Bell Ivie Spencer

A little over a year ago I wrote about how difficult it was to say good-bye to people. One person in particular was my grandma Spencer. That time finally came on Thursday, May 1, 2008. Grams had just celebrated her 83rd birthday on Monday.

On Saturday she suffered a series of mini-strokes and Sunday afternoon she fell into a coma. I spent Sunday evening in her home holding her hand, talking to her. Singing songs, reliving memories and thinking.

My dad said that it is to her that I owe all of my creativity (although Todd, my mom and my dad are all a GINORMOUS part of it too). He's right, she played a major role in my choice of career...not just the dream of some day being an Interior Designer, but by being a young mother of three children under the age of three (she mothered 4 young boys and 1 princess...the three oldest boys are all under one year from each other). When I would visit her, I would ask for her advice. Sometimes I didn't like it (mostly because I was feeling way too defensive and instead of taking it as constructive criticism and using it to improve myself, I felt it was an attack and it confirmed what a horrible mother I was). Some of my favorite advice was:

"Learn how to cook with a child on your hip and one between your legs" Every time I am at the stove with a baby on my hip I think of her.

"You can have nice things in your home while still having babies, you just have to teach them how to treat them."

"Enjoy them, because they grow up so fast." Everyone says this....and they are right. I sure do find myself just cuddling Abi more often and staring at Carly when she is sleeping. I want to remember their sweet faces and kind gestures. Just today Connor came in from outside with a weed (that looked like some type of flower to him) and handed it to me and gave me a kiss, then walked away. Where did he learn that?

"Oh how I love you...you just brighten my day." All right, I know it isn't advice, but she had this remarkable way of making me feel like I was the most important person in her life and no one made her feel happier than me. The amazing thing is that I know she made everyone feel that special and important. I think that all of us grandkids could tell the other that we were her favorite, and each of us were.

My sweet little Carly shares the same middle name as her great grandmother (although I took creative rights and a little French lesson and threw another "e" on the end). Gramps said that she always told people that one of her great-grand daughters had her middle name.

I love you grams. I'll see you later.